ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: MEET THE TWO RESEARCH ASSISTANTS GRADUATING FROM START’S TRAINING PROGRAM THIS FALL

This December, two research assistants graduated from the Strategic Analysis, Research & Training (START) Center’s training program. Dylan Green, Epidemiology PhD candidate, and André Peralta-Santos, Implementation Science PhD candidate, both completed their research assistantships and are now working on completing their dissertations.

Below, learn more about our impressive graduates and the work they completed while engaged with START.

DYLAN GREEN, MPH

Prior to Dylan’s enrollment as a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Washington, he worked for the CDC’s Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis where his efforts were focused on cost and cost-effectiveness analyses as well as optimal allocation of HIV resources. He led the implementation of PEPFAR’s global expenditure monitoring exercise from coordination, to data collection, to data analysis and data use in program planning. Before his time at CDC, Dylan received his Master’s in Public Health in global health from Emory University. His research interests include infectious disease modeling, behavioral health economics, and data visualization.

Dylan worked on seven projects during his two-and-a-half-year research assistantship with the START Center, serving as project manager on four of the projects. Learn more about three of these projects below:

• Nutrition Market Research: The team conducted a market and industry landscape analysis of the breast milk substitute formula market. The team focused on the market growth and top players globally, and in countries of interest to the foundation such as China, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and India. The team also added an analysis of the most recent mergers and acquisitions activity in the industry, company overviews and summaries of the main products, and regional presence of each of the top players.
• Serotype Epidemiology of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD): The team conducted a systematic review of data on the distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease serotypes globally in persons of all ages for the foundation.
• Risk-Group Heterogeneity: The team, which Dylan was the project manager for, conducted a systematic review to identify demographic and risk-behavior groups which were associated with awareness of HIV status, enrollment on HIV treatment, and achievement of viral suppression for the foundation. Dylan presented the project findings at the AIDS 2018 Conference in Amsterdam.

Reflecting on his time as a research assistant with START Dylan said, “My time at START has been invaluable to my PhD Epidemiology training. The experiences not only extended my capabilities in client and project management, but they greatly expanded the breadth of my knowledge. I feel strongly that irrespective of one’s background or career trajectory, an opportunity with START is well worth pursuing.”

Dylan finished his research assistantship with START in December 2019. He is working on his dissertation as an Epidemiology PhD candidate in Public Health. He plans to work in the non-governmental, private sector in global health. Specifically, he will be continuing to work on applied research in epidemiology as well as health economics and policy.

ANDRÉ PERALTA-SANTOS, MD, MPH

André is a Medical Doctor with eight years of professional experience in the area of Public Health and Health Policy. André was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a PhD in Global Health Implementation Science. Previously, he worked for international organizations such as the WHO and the European Commission, as well as national governments and local health organizations.

André worked on two projects during his one-year research assistantship with the START Center, serving as project manager on one of the projects. Learn more about these two projects below:

• Venous Leg Ulcers: The team was engaged by Boston Scientific to estimate the global burden and incidence of venous, arterial, and diabetic ulcers of the leg.
• Enteric Pathogens Case Control: For this project the team, which André was the project manager for, performed a systematic review of the number and type of enteric pathogens present in stools of healthy controls and patients with diarrhea.

André finished his research assistantship with START in December 2019. He is working on his dissertation as an Implementation Science PhD candidate in Global Health. He is researching how low and middle-income countries are trying to implement health insurance and gauge the impact on health outcomes. He plans to return to Portugal after he graduates.

Dylan and André will continue to engage with START’s extensive alumni network, established in 2011. START often invites alumni to share about their experiences after graduating from the training program at all-team meetings and, additionally, taps into the alumni network for content expertise on projects. The alumni network is comprised of highly skilled START graduate professionals employed in global health, business, and consulting across disciplines.